MANILA, Philippines – No funds were set aside for cash aid and contact tracing in the Duterte administration’s last budget proposal. During the Senate Committee on Finance’s first hearing on the proposed P5.024-trillion outlay for 2022, Budget Undersecretary Tina Marie Canda explained that funds were not appropriated for these items since forecasting how much and what […]
Read MoreMANILA, Philippines (Update 1, 11:40 a.m.) — The country’s unemployment rate eased in July, but quality of available jobs deteriorated during the month while many Filipinos have given up looking for work, exacerbating pandemic hardships. A quarterly survey of 121,990 families nationwide showed there were 3.07 million people who were either unemployed or out of business in […]
Read MoreMANILA, Philippines — Consumer price growth resumed its uptick to accelerate beyond government expectations anew in August on higher utility costs and pricier food items. Inflation, as measured by the consumer price index, went up 4.9% year-on-year in August, faster than 4% on-year clip recorded in July, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported on Tuesday. The […]
Read MoreMANILA, Philippines — A total of nine companies managed to beat the deadline for the filing of applications for digital banking licenses as the three-year moratorium imposed by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) took effect on September 1. In an email sent to The STAR, the regulator said it received nine applications from new […]
Read MoreMANILA, Philippines — The Department of Finance (DOF) has opposed a proposal seeking to enforce a debt ceiling of 50 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), warning this may hinder spending for recovery efforts in times of crisis. Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III yesterday said the DOF sees no need for lawmakers to legislate a […]
Read MoreMANILA, Philippines — The Philippines likely recorded a stronger growth in exports and imports in July amid the continued reopening of global trade during the pandemic, according to Standard Chartered Bank. Jonathan Koh, economist for Asia and the Philippines at Standard Chartered Bank, said the Philippines’ trade deficit likely narrowed for the second straight month […]
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